(Thank you, Grannie!)Sometimes, I read the headlines of the news and just can’t make myself click on the full story. Because, grouchy old skeptic-pagan that I am, I don’t need a crystal ball or my tarot cards to tell what is coming. And there are media-cowpies one needn’t step in, right?

For instance, the outrage-mill’s latest grist:the Rolling Stone picture of the Boston bomber. I didn’t need to read what I am pretty sure is a reasonable story entitled “I’m Not Outraged by Rolling Stone.” I’m sure the writer established that he hates terrorists and murderers in the correct manner and went on to explain why the picture was just a picture. I wasn’t outraged by the photograph either; I am frankly sick of my nation’s embrace of propaganda and jingoism that makes every enemy, internal or external, into a comic book villain character. The Boston bomber WAS a dreamy young man who finally was immersed in a nightmare he could not escape. And the cop who released pics of his capture? That gave me a rather grim grin; he meant it to show, “See, we got the little bastard…who’s dreaming NOW?” For me, it just said what I’d actually like ALL of America to recognize: THESE ENEMIES ARE ALSO HUMAN, ALSO PEOPLE. They are not Battlestar Galactica 80’s “toaster” Cylons, folks. It is the act of dehumanizing our enemies and other marginalized sorts that CREATES desperate terrorists. Nobody needs to romanticize criminals, but for pity’s sake, stop expecting glaring maniacs. Life is NOT an action flick with Xerxes the Great polishing his jewelry. Not every murderer mugs for the camera like Charlie Manson.

Nor did I need to click on “Why Trayvon matters to Obama” because unholy hell, people: What happened to that young man SHOULD matter to all of us. I keep seeing people say, “Hey, stand your ground had NOTHING to do with it.” Not strictly true, because although the defense of George Zimmerman didn’t use the law to defend him, the JUDGE did tell the jury they could consider that law in their deliberations. And as revealed by Ms. B-minus, they DID so. Can anyone honestly tell me that if Trayvon had been white and/or if Zimmerman had been UNarmed, Trayvon would still have been followed and still be dead? Anyone wanting to do so? I’ve got a stack of those Bibles some of you think SO important for your right hand, step right the fuck up! Oh, and I do believe in magic, so if you lie and that from-a-fucking-astronomical-distance god of yours doesn’t light you up, I just might, if you lie to ME. As for the denial about it having anything to do with race? What rock are you living beneath?

And “Air Force officer’s Sexual Battery Charge Dropped”? Yeah, I don’t have high blood pressure…but reading shit like that could change that in less than 60 seconds. This was the guy in charge of investigating sexual assaults for the Air Force; I saw the original story when he got scraped up in a bar parking lot after grabbing a woman who wanted naught to do with him. But hey, I’m sure his “perfect service record” means he couldn’t be a rape-cultured misogynistic bastard who believes any woman who CAN be grabbed SHOULD be, right? What fucking century IS this again? ‘Cause I’ve got to say, for a nation that makes faces at Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations for making women veil-up or else; we have MORE than enough of our own issues with men thinking sexual might is fucking right.

And finally, after the snark and anger? The sorrow…”Woman killed on Six Flags roller coaster identified”….place your bets, folks. This one is going to get ugly unless America sticks its head into the sand in a hurry. I did see the initial story, and saw some concerns about whether the seat restraint had “clicked” or not. And I don’t want to read anymore about it because my bet is, this woman was a hefty large woman and the restraint could not accommodate her size. So, sooner or later, someone is going to scream (likely at me) about “fat hating”. Because that IS how stupid my nation is getting….we cannot discuss ANYthing without going off the freaking rails. How is it fat hating to ask, if rides have “you can’t ride unless you are ‘this high'” signage; why not signs about maximum volume capacity? Is it hate when it is aimed at saving your life? I’d sure like to be wrong on this one, but yeah….from the very first, those inner alarms were doing that klaxon-scream. Someone at that park put that woman in that seat, and on some level KNEW it didn’t make the right “locked and loaded” sound; but that employee didn’t want to say, “We can’t secure you, Lady…so you can’t ride.” And now she is dead…and I can’t think about whomever might have been riding with her witnessing her death; that just hurts too much.

Come on America, whether your heads are in the sand or up your ass….could we all start waking from the nightmare of “Saying it makes it so! and NOT saying it means it don’t exist” and get back to being what we TELL ourselves we are in the world? Yeah, I know, nobody wants to hear what I have to say about the image in the mirror; we need a lot more than a few hairs tweezed. And hey, I’ve been called a heretic for SO long that I don’t mind hearing it some more.

And now we have “Royal Baby Watch 2013!” blasting over the internet and airwaves. Have to keep the shiny in the eyes of the peeps, so they don’t notice what’s happening behind the curtain…or right under their noses.

Herland

The name of this blog, and my Dreamwidth blog, Herlander Refugee, is taken from a 1915 feminist novel "Herland". It makes my heart sing that modern women are experimenting with creation of a new "Herland"!
Yes, comments are closed. Anyone who just MUST reach me can do so at syrbal6 at gmail dot com.